It is almost a year since Manila imposed the daytime truck ban that led to horrific congestion in the Southeast Asian port, but even though the terminals are making ground on the backlog of containers, yard utilisation is still at unhealthy levels.

The Philippine Economic Zone Authority (Peza) has called for a revision to the country’s cabotage law that it says will ease port congestion in Manila, cut the cost of transporting goods by water and raise the level of competitiveness in the maritime sector.

The Philippine Ports Authority has announced it will be “business as usual” during the papal visit that begins on Jan. 15, despite a five-day shutdown of Manila South Harbor (MSH) and disruption to other terminals in the capital city’s long congested port.

Next week’s visit to the Philippines by Pope Francis will further disrupt cargo movements in and out of the congested port of Manila, and the government has urged shippers to clear out their cargo from the port by the weekend.

Manila’s efforts to clear the backlog of containers congesting the port are being threatened by the Christmas and New Year holidays that the Philippine Ports Authority fears could bring the yard utilisation back to congestion levels.

Almost half the container vessels arriving at the Asian ports of Ho Chi Minh City, Manila and Nhava Sheva between Oct. 15 and Nov. 15 were delayed more than 12 hours, and one third of the arriving ships faced delays of more than 24 hours, CargoSmart has found.

There is optimism that the congestion choking the port of Manila since February may finally be addressed after Philippine government officials and the shipping industry came together in the capital to tackle the crippling problems.

A yard expansion project by International Container Terminal Services, Inc. (ICTSI) in Manila has been completed and will help the port address the growing volumes and congestion that has choked the port since February.